I am back from the trip to London and the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight is a lovely island in the south of the UK and who has not been there yet, should definitely visit it one day. It is beautiful, believe me! They even have their own little festival, which is called the Garlic Festival. It was great meeting some of the friends I got to know in India and I enjoyed these days a lot.
From Berlin to Newport on the Isle of Wight
Philip, André and I flew from Berlin to London. From there we went by National Express to Southampton in the south of the UK. I liked the bus ride with National Express. It is comparatively cheap and pleasant. In Southampton we took hi-speed ferry to Newport on the Isle of Wight. The ride is quick and surprisingly I felt very comfortable on board (no sickness at all). Once we reached Newport on the Isle of Wight, we met Nick and his mother Joy, who thankfully hosted us a couple of days.
Sunburn in the UK
Apart from sharing many joint memories we actually did a lot of tourist stuff on the island. The weather was really good, so we visited the beach. I know it is hard to believe, but one can actually get sunburnt in the UK. I was the living proof. Later that day we went to one of the oldest pubs on the Isle of Wight, where Nick’s mother Joy participated in a traditional dance. That was both a lot of fun.
The Garlic Festival and Racing Demon
The next day we went to the famous Isle of Wight Garlic Festival. One can try almost everything combined with garlic. I tried garlic beer and garlic ice-cream, but the latter was definitely not my favorite. That evening Joy introduced us to a typical card game of the island. Racing Demon was such great fun!!! It is incredibly fast and came along with a lot of laughing.
Sightseeing in London
After we came back from the Isle of Wight Philip, André and I stayed some more days in the Generator hostel in London. We wanted to see a bit of London and do some shopping. London is an amazing city that offers so much. The first day we did some typical tourist sightseeing. We started at Trafalgar Square. It seems to be always busy and it is fascinating to watch all these different people. Close to the Trafalgar Square is the National Gallery, which we visited next. A great museum that I liked a lot, although I am not too much into museums.
Free Entrance to Museums
One thing I like about the UK is, that most (if not all) museums have no entrance fee. This is amazing considering that the National Gallery is such a huge museum and one could easily spend two or three days in it. From the National Gallery we walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. There were so many tourists taking pictures and watching the guards. We managed to take some good shots ourselves.
Shopping in London
The second day was more about shopping on Oxford Street. Oxford Street is a huge street with hundreds of shops and almost all big brands. It is hard to find something, that is not sold on Oxford Street. Quite funny was a bomb warning in front of the McDonald’s we were sitting in. No worries, nothing happened. Now I am looking forward to our Paris trip this week.